In many areas of the world water may be obtained from a ground water well. Unfortunately, before the water can be put to use, a pumping system must be provided to bring the water to the surface.
In areas where electricity is available, electrically driven pumps are typically used to pump the water from the ground. Unfortunately, electricity is not available everywhere. In remote areas other types of pumping systems must be provided. One approach in remote areas has been to use an engine powered by petroleum fuel to drive a pump. This is done either by having the engine power the pump directly or by having the engine drive an electric generator, and using an electric pump. The drawback of using an engine is that fuel must be brought to the remote site. This may be impossible in some locations.
Wind power has long been used in water pumping systems. Unfortunately, wind power is not consistently available.
Harnessing wind power for use in pumping fluid can also involve large and costly mechanisms.
Solar power presents an attractive alternative as an energy source. It is readily available in many areas where pumps are required. Others in the past have developed solar powered water pumping systems. Such systems have typically involved using solar power to heat a first working fluid to power an engine. The engine then transfers energy to a second working fluid, typically a hydraulic oil. The hydraulic oil is then used to power a pumping device. The pumping device pumps the water. Examples of such systems are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,720,978 and 4,666,376.
The drawback associated with these prior systems is that they are unreliable. The unreliability stems from the complexity of the apparatus required to convert the solar energy to energy in the first working fluid, then to fluid power in the hydraulic oil, and finally to energy of the water pumped from the well. The fact that these systems have so many components makes them relatively expensive to manufacture. Such systems are also fairly inefficient.
Thus there exists a need for a solar powered pumping system that is reliable, more economical and more efficient than existing systems.